NASA's James Webb Telescope Reveals 16.5 Million Stars In 'Cigar' Galaxy

Last Updated:June 28, 2026, 17:07 IST

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured a detailed image of the starburst Cigar Galaxy M82, resolving 16.5 million stars.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured one of its most detailed images yet of the Cigar Galaxy (Messier 82), resolving around 16.5 million individual stars and uncovering never-before-seen details hidden behind thick clouds of cosmic dust.

Located about 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major, the Cigar Galaxy is undergoing an intense burst of star formation, making it one of the most active star-forming galaxies in the nearby universe.

What Did Webb Discover?

A team of astronomers spent 65 hours observing the galaxy using Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). The telescope’s infrared vision penetrated dense dust clouds that had obscured the galaxy’s interior in previous observations, allowing scientists to identify approximately 16.5 million individual stars for the first time.

The new observations also revealed the galaxy’s distorted disc structure, believed to be the result of a past interaction with its larger neighbour, Messier 81 (M81).

Why The Cigar Galaxy Matters

M82 is classified as a “starburst galaxy" because it produces new stars at a rate nearly 10 times faster than the Milky Way. Astronomers believe this unusually rapid star formation was triggered by a gravitational encounter with M81 millions of years ago.

However, scientists say this stellar boom is temporary. Powerful winds generated by young stars and supernova explosions are ejecting gas and dust from the galaxy, gradually depleting the raw material needed to form new stars. The starburst phase is expected to last only a few hundred million years—brief on cosmic timescales.

Helping Decode Galactic Evolution

Researchers say the unprecedented level of detail provided by Webb will help them reconstruct M82’s formation history and better understand how galaxy mergers trigger intense episodes of star formation.

The observations also offer new insights into how gas, dust and stellar winds shape the evolution of galaxies, making M82 an important natural laboratory for studying the lifecycle of stars beyond the Milky Way.

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